Self-Launched: Kruger, Victoria Falls & Botswana's Untamed Wonders

Land at OR Tambo, take the Gautrain to Park Station or Marlboro and a local minibus/rideshare to your hostel in Maboneng or Braamfontein (budget ~£8-12 total). Settle in, then walk the Maboneng precinct's galleries and street food stalls and join the free (tip-based) inner-city walking tour if timing allows. Evening: dinner at a Braamfontein market or Neighbourgoods-adjacent food hall. Use the day to sort a local SIM (Vodacom/MTN, ~£8 for data) and pre-book your Kruger transfer.

🚌Gautrain + minibus taxi/rideshare from airport (~£8-12)

🛏Hostel dorm or private budget room, Maboneng/Braamfontein (£12-18)

• →Maboneng street art walk
• →Free inner-city walking tour
• →Braamfontein food hall dinner

Replace the private Mandela Foundation tour with public options: book the excellent Apartheid Museum entry online (~£6) and/or the Mandela House museum in Soweto (~£5), plus the small Nelson Mandela Foundation centre (free/donation, book ahead by email). A shared Soweto guided walk through a local operator (GetYourGuide/Viator, ~£22-28) gives comparable context and community contact. Evening: prepare for an early transfer east.

🚌Local minibus taxis and rideshare (~£6)

🛏Hostel dorm or private budget room, Johannesburg (£12-18)

• →Apartheid Museum
• →Mandela House, Soweto
• →Shared Soweto walking tour

The tour flies Joburg-Hoedspruit; you'll take the scenic road instead. Take the early intercity coach or the Baz Bus-style backpacker shuttle to Nelspruit (Mbombela), then a shuttle or minibus taxi on to Hazyview (~£28-35 total, 6-7 hrs). Check into a Hazyview hostel or guesthouse and walk to the Sabie River viewpoints — the famous Kruger Shalati train bridge is visible from the river paths. Book tomorrow's Kruger day safari with your hostel or GetYourGuide tonight (~£55-70 for a shared open-vehicle full-day drive).

🚌Intercity coach/shuttle Joh'burg–Nelspruit–Hazyview (~£30)

🛏Hazyview hostel/guesthouse (£18-25)

• →Sabie River sunset walk
• →Book Kruger day safari

Pick up a shared open-4x4 day safari (GetYourGuide/Viator or your hostel's recommended operator) departing 05:30-06:00 for the southern Kruger circuit. Morning and afternoon drives with a picnic breakfast and lunch stop inside the park mirrors the original two-drive day. Look for lion, elephant, rhino and plenty of plains game along the Sabie and Crocodile River loops. Optional community stop: the Shabalala Interpretation of Culture Centre near Hazyview runs on appointment — ask your guesthouse to phone ahead, or swap in a small local coffee co-op visit for similar cultural contact. Return by evening for a braai.

🚌Included in shared Kruger safari vehicle

🛏Hazyview hostel/guesthouse (£18-25)

• →Full-day shared Kruger safari drive
• →Shabalala cultural centre or local coffee co-op
• →Evening braai

Instead of a private game reserve day, spend it on the budget version of luxury: book a shared Panorama Route day tour (Blyde River Canyon, God's Window, Lisbon Falls, Bourke's Luck Potholes, ~£30-38) or self-drive with a rented car if you're comfortable on the left. This keeps the same 'day in the bush' rhythm and frees budget for the parks ahead. Evening: stay in Graskop or return to Hazyview and pre-book your flight or bus to Johannesburg for onward Zimbabwe travel.

🚌Shared Panorama Route tour vehicle (~£34)

🛏Graskop/Hazyview hostel or guesthouse (£15-22)

• →Blyde River Canyon
• →God's Window
• →Bourke's Luck Potholes

Bus or shuttle back to Johannesburg (or to Nelspruit/KMIA for a cheaper airfare), then fly to Victoria Falls (VFA) — book a low-cost carrier like Fastjet or Airlink well ahead, ~£110-160 one way; a full road-only version via Polokwane and the Beitbridge border is possible but takes 2 days. Arrange a KAZA UniVisa on arrival if eligible (~£40) for Zimbabwe-Zambia flexibility. Settle into a Victoria Falls town hostel and take an inexpensive sunset stroll; budget operators like the Zambezi Explorer's cheaper evening deck seats run ~£35 if you want the river-sundowner feel.

🚌Shuttle + one-way flight to VFA (~£130)

🛏Victoria Falls town hostel/guesthouse (£18-28)

• →Sunset viewpoint walk
• →Optional budget Zambezi cruise (~£35)

Walk to the Falls themselves — Zimbabwe-side entry is ~£28 and the rainforest paths give 16 viewpoints on 'the Smoke that Thunders'. In the afternoon swap the private women's co-op lunch for an equivalent: book a Victoria Falls community cooking experience or village visit via GetYourGuide (~£30-40), or visit the Chinotimba township market and a local eatery. Optional: a guided bridge walk, or the cheaper 'Boiling Pot' hike down from the falls. Evening show alternative: the Simunye-style cultural performance runs at several town venues (~£15-20); ask your hostel for the standing-room/local-rate option.

🚌Walkable town + local taxi (~£5)

🛏Victoria Falls town hostel/guesthouse (£18-28)

• →Victoria Falls rainforest walk
• →Community cooking class
• →Optional cultural dance show

Take a shared shuttle or local combi from Victoria Falls to the Kazungula border and on to Kasane (~£20-25, 2 hrs including border formalities; have USD 30 tourism levy and passport ready). Check into a Kasane backpackers or campsite and book a shared sunset Chobe River cruise (~£28-35) — these run on the same eco-boat channels the luxury tour uses, with huge elephant herds coming down to drink. Dinner at your lodge's firepit.

🚌Shared shuttle Kazungula border crossing (~£22)

🛏Kasane backpackers/campsite (£15-22)

• →Sunset Chobe River cruise
• →Elephant spotting from the boat

Book a shared morning game drive into Chobe National Park (~£40-50, 3-4 hrs, big elephant and lion numbers in the dry season) and an afternoon Chobe River photo-boat cruise (~£28-35) — these cruises are the standard-budget equivalent of the operator's photo-host safari and come with a guide who knows the light and the channels. Sundowner from the deck, then a cheap dinner in Kasane town.

🚌Shared 4x4 game drive vehicle

🛏Kasane backpackers/campsite (£15-22)

• →Morning Chobe game drive
• →Afternoon Chobe River photo cruise
• →Sundowner on the river

Morning walk or final short game drive, then fly Air Botswana/Mack Air Kasane–Maun (~£95-130 one way, ~1 hr; keep luggage within 20 kg). Land in Maun, the Okavango's gateway town, and settle into a canal-side backpackers or guesthouse — book direct by phone/email, these fill fast in dry season. Afternoon: relax by the pool and pre-book your Delta and pans plans. Budget-option sundowner: a canoe or riverside bar on the Thamalakane River.

🚌Domestic flight Kasane–Maun (~£110)

🛏Maun backpackers/guesthouse (£18-28)

• →Thamalakane River walk
• →Trip prep for Delta and pans

Visit the Nkashi Knowledge Centre or the Okavango Research Institute's public talks in Maun (free/donation, ask for the tour) to hear the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project story from the people involved. Then take a light-aircraft charter flight to the Makgadikgadi airstrip (~£150-190 one way, arranged with your pans lodge — the operator does the same flight, so the cost gap here is in the lodge tier, not the air). Settle into a budget pans camp or self-catering campsite near the edge of the pan, watch sunset over the salt flats, and eat around a self-catered fire or a simple boma dinner.

🚌Light aircraft charter Maun–Makgadikgadi airstrip (~£170)

🛏Makgadikgadi budget camp/self-cater (£20-30)

• →Nkashi Knowledge Centre visit
• →Light aircraft scenic flight
• →Pan sunset

Book a shared morning and afternoon drives with your camp (~£35-50 each, or a package). In dry season the Boteti River side pulls in zebra and wildebeest, with lion and cheetah following; a research centre visit or a biologist talk is often addable for a small fee — ask your camp to organise the equivalent of the 'Living with Elephants' presentation (local elephant research and coexistence projects in the area welcome small group visits by arrangement, usually £10-20 donation). Dinner back at camp under the stars.

🚌Shared camp 4x4

🛏Makgadikgadi budget camp/self-cater (£20-30)

• →Morning pans game drive
• →Elephant coexistence talk / research centre visit
• →Afternoon pans game drive

Fly or shuttle back toward Maun (~£150-170 by air, or arrange a shared transfer) and get to the Delta's edge at a mokoro base camp. Budget Delta overnights sit in community camps or tented islands: two nights with a poler-guide typically runs ~£180-250 all-in including mokoro trips, walks and basic meals — enquire with Maun's backpackers (Old Bridge area) for the small community-run options rather than the luxury island camps.

🚌Light aircraft or shared road transfer + speedboat to camp (~£160)

🛏Delta community camp/mokoro camp, 2 nights (£90-125/night)

• →Speedboat transfer
• →Camp island walk

A full day in the Delta: sunrise walk with your poler to track animals and read the sand, then glide out in a traditional mokoro canoe among reeds for birds, sitatunga and hippos (~included in the camp package). Afternoon motorboat channel along the main channels and a possible swim spot (with guide, never unguided). This is the exact experience the tour delivers at the same pace — campfire dinner and campfire stories at night.

🚌Mokoro canoe and motorboat

🛏Delta community camp/mokoro camp (£90-125)

• →Guided mokoro trip
• →Bush walk
• →Afternoon motorboat safari
• →Campfire dinner

Mokoro and boat back out, transfer to Maun. Freshen up at a public campsite or guesthouse, then spend the afternoon in Maun: the airport craft market, the Nhabe Museum (small entry fee), and the local shops and cafés along Sir Seretse Khama Road. Evening: sundowner at a riverside bar, pre-book any onward Delta extras (scenic flight option ~£110-130 if you skipped one earlier).

🚌Boat + shared road transfer (~£35)

🛏Maun backpackers/guesthouse (£18-28)

• →Nhabe Museum
• →Craft market
• →Riverside sundowner

A deliberately open day: bush-flight cancellations and Delta logistics eat schedules, so use this buffer for a delayed mokoro trip, a self-booked scenic flight over the Delta, a horse-riding or quad option on the pans edge, or simply catch up on laundry, rest and planning. Note that the original tour runs 17 days with the final day as departure — your equivalent departure is Days 16-17 depending on your flight. Maun has reliable guesthouses and easy airport access.

🚌Local taxi/rideshare (~£5)

🛏Maun backpackers/guesthouse (£18-28)

• →Optional scenic Delta flight (~£120)
• →Rest and laundry
• →Buffer for delays

Transfer to Maun Airport (~£8-15 by local taxi; allow 2 hrs). International flights depart via Johannesburg, Gaborone or Kasane — book an afternoon flight (the operator advises nothing before 13:00) so delays from the Delta don't bite. Have your yellow fever card, KAZA/botswana levy receipts and insect repellent handy at check-in.

🚌Local taxi to Maun Airport (~£12)

🛏None (departure day)

• →Departure